The Red Storm landed their second recruit for this fall’s incoming freshman class in top 50 SG Brandon Sampson. The 6-4 Baton Rouge (LA) native chose St. John’s over hometown LSU, USC and California. Head coach Steve Lavin’s other class of 2015 commit, Samir Doughty, is also a shooting guard.

St. John’s scored a big recruiting coup on Monday morning when 6-5 Brandon Sampson of Baton Rouge (La.) Madison High announced he would be joining the Red Storm next season.

Sampson is rated among the 50 best high school recruits by several national recruiting websites. The shooting guard opted for the Johnnies over California, USC and LSU, according to Madison High coach Jeff Jones. This season, he is averaging about 17 points per game.

“New York is getting a big-time player,” Jones told the Daily News in a telephone interview. “He’s Stephen Curry-ish with his jump shot… a real good shooter.”

Sampson is the highest profile recruit to pick St. John’s in two seasons, but continues the succession of high level talents that have been opting for the Storm since Lavin arrived.

Jones said Sampson “wanted to go somewhere where he would be a major impact player right away” and at the moment that’s what he’d be for the Johnnies. The team will lose seniors D’Angelo Harrison, Jamal Branch, Sir’Dominic Pointer and Phil Greene after this season. Junior Chris Obekpa and sophomore Rysheed Jordan are certain to examine the landscape for the jump to the NBA after this season.

“St. John’s was involved very early with (Sampson),” Jones said. “Coach Lavin showed him that bringing him in was a top priority. He won over the family and he won over Brandon… In recruiting, it can be a crapshoot but Lavin was genuine the whole time.”

Carnesecca Arena sits just outside the sprawling streets of midtown Manhattan on the small St. John’s University campus in Queens, NY. Even with its recent renovations, the arena is cramped, outdated and inferior to the facilities of other powerhouse programs around the country. Though it is flawed, the gym has a certain charm to it—the 5,600-seat arena is a basketball oasis dripping with hoops history. Back in the Big East’s hey-day of the ’80s and ’90s, New York City greats Mark Jackson, Chris Mullin, Ron Artest and head coach Lou Carnesecca made St. John’s one of the premier programs in the country.

Splitting their home games between Carnesecca Arena and Madison Square Garden, St. John’s often found itself at the center of the college basketball world thanks to epic rivalries with the likes of Georgetown and Syracuse. As of late, though, the product has been subpar, local interest has waned, and the the tributes to Jackson, Mullin and Carnesecca hanging in the rafters of Carnesecca Arena remind those who enter just how far the program has fallen.

Except for an Elite 8 run in 2000 and a first-round bump in 2011, St. John’s has failed to make the NCAA Tournament. Even worse, the program found itself riled in controversy throughout the late ’90s and ’00s due to rape accusations (later proved untrue), allegedly paying players, an ugly breakup with former head coach Mike Jarvis, and a self-imposed post-season ban. Once a hotbed for New York City’s top players, almost all of the recruits coming out of the boroughs went to school elsewhere leaving the program devoid of talent. The result was a razed program that, after years of setbacks and disappointments, is finally trending upward under fourth year head coach Steve Lavin. Thanks to great recruiting and resilience, the Red Storm has a chance to bring attention back to a depleted New York City college basketball scene and re-stake its claim as “New York’s team.”

When Lavin stepped away from the analyst’s desk and returned to the sideline as head coach of St. John’s in 2010, the program had a positive energy around it for the first time in a decade. Here was a coach—arguably the first coach at St. John’s since Lou Carnesecca—who understood the responsibility, patience and work it took to build and sustain a basketball program and national presence. Lavin was already familiar with the pressures that came with coaching a high-profile school in a huge media market after 12 years at UCLA. He knew how to recruit (at UCLA he hauled two number one recruiting classes and seven McDonald’s All-Americans). And, most importantly, he knew how to win (five Sweet 16 appearances in six seasons).

The St. John’s-Steve Lavin marriage got off to a fast start. Lavin led his first team to a 21-12 record, beating four top-10 teams and earning a Big Dance berth along the way. Lavin brought a buzz back to campus as the fans and students immediately gravitated to the coach, dubbing Carnesecca Arena “LAVINWOOD.” Lavin also lived up to his reputation as a great recruiter by bringing in a class that included future first-round pick Moe Harkless, and other blue chip players including forward Jakarr Sampson, guard D’Angelo Harrison, big man Norvel Pelle, forward Amir Garrett and guard/forward Sir’Dominic Pointer. The foundation was laid by Lavin in year one and a return to consistent winning seemed imminent.

But just as quick as the program took a step forward, it took two steps back. Top incoming recruits Garrett, Sampson and Pelle didn’t qualify academically. Lavin’s first recruit, forward Dwayne Polee transferred, and point guard Nurideen Lindsey transferred nine games into the regular season. The biggest blow was Lavin’s diagnosis of prostate cancer which caused him to miss almost all of the season. Future (and now former) Charlotte Bobcats head coach Mike Dunlap was left to take the reins of the youngest team in the country and with just six scholarship players available, the Red Storm stumbled to a 13-19 record.

Year three of the Steve Lavin experiment was another up and down affair. Once again, the Red Storm hauled in a top recruiting class that included re-committed Sampson, shot blocking extraordinaire Chris Obekpa, top JuCo forward Orlando Sanchez (who didn’t play due to eligibility issues), Texas A&M transfer point guard Jamal Branch (allowed to play in December), and Harvard transfer Max Hooper (who redshirted).

The team played well, winning five straight conference games in January, and climbed as high as third in the conference. Newcomer Obekpa exceeded expectations and became a shot-blocking machine while Sampson and Harrison formed a potent scoring combination with their dynamic skill sets. The Johnnies were peaking heading into the stretch run of their schedule and were in the conversation as an at-large Tournament team. The team was riding high, but soon enough, problems both on and off the court began to creep to the forefront.

Offensively, the Red Storm were a mess. Branch, who was supposed to solve the team’s point guard problem, joined the team late and battled a knee injury. With Branch ailing, point guard responsibilities fell to Harrison and Phil Greene IV—both of whom are talented scorers but unfit to log heavy minutes at the point. Without an attacking point guard to penetrate and find the open man, the team settled for a ridiculously high amount of mid- to long-range two-point field-goal attempts. The team was also woeful from the three-point line, finishing near the bottom of the nation in all three-point statistical categories.

Once February came around, the team began to spiral out of control. Lavin’s crew went 2-4 during the month and played themselves out of a chance to make the NCAA Tournament. After that disappointing stretch, the wheels fell completely off the wagon in March. Harrison, easily the team’s best offensive threat and the only guy who could get his own shot, was suspended for the rest of the season by Lavin due to behavioral problems. St. John’s lost its remaining regular-season games and capped off its season with an embarrassing fight during a blowout loss against Notre Dame. When it was all said and done, the Red Storm finished with a 17-16 record and a first-round NIT victory—hardly the results the team had in mind. Statistically, St. John’s finished 290th out of 347 teams in adjusted offensive rating, dead last in the Big East in free-throw percentage and in the bottom half of the conference in assists, points per game, three-pointers made per game, and field-goal percentage.

Despite the disappointing finish, the team did have its bright spots and a returning foundation to build off of heading into the offseason. Obekpa was a force defensively, leading the nation with 4 blocks per game, while fellow freshman Sampson was second on the team in scoring with 14.9 points per game and first in rebounding with 6.6 per game—good enough to earn Big East Rookie of the Year. Pointer stuffed the stat sheet and harassed the opposing teams top perimeter player, turning into one of the better two-way players in the Big East. Even with the suspension, Harrison averaged 17.8 points per game and was named Second-Team All-Conference.

Nearly all of last season’s roster is coming back for another run and even though the season ended disastrously, Lavin remains optimistic. “Up until D’Angelo was suspended…I was pleased with where we were,” says Lavin. “We had a vision when we came here three years ago and now we’re closer to that because we have the depth, balance, size, skill, quickness, seasoning, and now we’re ready to take the next step which is making the NCAA Tournament.” It may seem a bit silly for the coach to speak so glowingly about the program considering how disappointing the last two seasons have been but Lavin’s optimism is warranted–on paper this team has all the pieces to win the Big East and compete nationally.

After flirting with the NBA, super sophomore Jakarr Sampson returns and joins Obekpa, Greene, Pointer, Branch, and a fresh-off-suspension Harrison to form an experienced and talented core. “The way the team is built, you can’t load up on guys,” says Harrison. “Everybody’s progression is better…Anyone on the floor can burn you.” Due to transfers, eligibility issues, and injuries, Lavin has struggled with depth since day one. After three years of solid recruiting, he finally has the bodies to use a skillful 10-man rotation—an incredibly important facet considering the new rules put in play by the NCAA that will result in a ton of foul calls.

Leaving his native Africa to chase his dream of playing in the NBA, Opekba made a splash last season by leading the nation in blocks but it wasn’t enough for the big man. “[Winning Defensive Player of the Year] was the goal last year but I didn’t get it,” says Opekba. “I was mad at myself but it was motivation for me to come back and get it. That’s what I’m looking forward to this year. [That] and to watch the team progress and go a lot further than last year.” If Opekba has any semblance of an offensive game this season, he will emerge as a force for the Johnnies on both ends of the court.

Pointer has one of the more well-rounded games in the nation, and is starting to gain national attention because of it. His stats won’t blow you away (he averaged 6.9 points, 5.5 boards, 2.8 assists, and 1.4 steals last season) but with a combination of strength, size, athleticism and basketball IQ, the 6-5 Pointer will again impact every game in some capacity. “He’s one of those guys who will be in for 10 minutes and have 10 points, 8 blocks, 4 rebounds, call a timeout, get a travel called on him, and dunk on somebody,” says Harrison. “He’s going to have an impact every game. [He is one of the] leaders on this team.”

After winning Big East Freshman of the Year, 6-8 forward Sampson rightfully flirted with the NBA Draft. Last season, the silky smooth forward flashed a sick mid-range game and proved himself as a willing rebounder, but ultimately chose to return to St. John’s to improve his game, get stronger, and carry his team to the next level. “I felt like I wasn’t satisfied with where I was at,” says an excited Sampson. “I felt like I could use another year to get better and improve on the things I wasn’t good at last year like my three-point shot, perimeter game and ball-handling. I felt like we weren’t a full team last year…it didn’t feel right leaving.”

Realizing the team’s flaws, the coaching staff did a tremendous job in filling the holes that held the Red Storm back last season. To help the terrible three-point shooting, Lavin brought in long-range specialist Max Hooper from Harvard. Hooper only has one job this season—hit as many threes as humanly possible and if the 10 three-pointers he hit in a game during the team’s European tour over the summer are any indication, that should not be a problem. “He’s going to add a lot to this team,” says Sampson. “It’s no secret that we struggled with the three-point shot last year and he’s going to open up a lot for us this year. Once people start to realize he’s the real deal and can really shoot the ball, a lot of attention is going to be taken off of myself and D’Angelo and put on him.”

While Hooper’s teammates and coaches raved about his ability to shoot the three at media day, the reality is Hooper saw almost no playing time his freshman year at Harvard. At 6-6 and with his supposed ability to stretch the floor, Hooper has the potential to solve a lot of the problems this team had from beyond the arc last season. The verdict is still out as to whether Hooper can compete on a higher level of competition and with St. John’s counting on him to be their primary deep threat, the pressure is on.

Outside of Obekpa, who was a non-factor offensively, the Red Storm were paper thin up front. To add depth and skill, the Red Storm welcome in 6-9 power forward Sanchez with open arms. The Dominican Republic native was supposed to play last season but after suiting up for the Dominican’s national team under Coach Calipari, the NCAA called his amateur eligibility into question and declared him ineligible for the season. Fortunately for the 24-year-old Sanchez and the Red Storm, the big man was cleared late last season and will add scoring and rebounding up front. Sanchez was widely regarded as one of the top JuCo transfers two years ago and he and Obekpa will form a formidable duo down low.

“I like playing off of Orlando,” says Obekpa. “He knows what I can do and I know what he can do. It’s like a good sparring partner for me, we push each other every day in practice. By the time we start the season we won’t be surprised by the competition, we’ll be used to it.” Along with Sanchez, 6-9 forward, God’s Gift Achiuwa returns after redshirting last season to provide more depth.

Easily the biggest addition to St. John’s roster is 6-4 freshman point guard Rysheed Jordan. Despite all the talent Lavin as hauled since he landed in Queens, the point guard position has been this program’s achilles heel under his tenure. It doesn’t matter how many good players a coach puts on the court, without a capable floor general the team will struggle—just look at last year’s Kentucky team. Jordan, who was heralded as one of the top recruits in the nation, is long, explosive, and could be the missing piece that takes this team from the middle-of-the-pack to the Top 25.

Jordan will make an impact on both sides of the floor from day one and he is already being discussed as one of the top freshmen Lavin has ever coached. “He’s a perfect complement to our personnel and to our style of play,” says Lavin. “He can influence the game on both ends of the floor, he’s 6-4 with a long wingspan and can disrupt a player with his defensive prowess as well as offensively as a shot and playmaker. He’s going to have an opportunity to elevate everything we’re doing. He’s in the handful of the best freshmen I’ve coached. Time will tell over the season how quickly he develops…but for this stage in my coaching career, he’d be in the handful of the best I’ve coached.”

The hype machine around the Philly native is firing on all cylinders and with St. John’s making him unavailable for interviews until December, the intrigue only grows.

With fresh faces and returning players all primed to contribute, this season rides on the shoulders of Harrison. The junior is easily one of the top scorers in the country but with last year’s suspension still fresh in everyone’s memory, he will be under a microscope all season long. During the offseason, Harrison returned home to his native Texas to train and receive counseling from from former NBA point guard, John Lucas, who has built a reputation as a mentor to troubled athletes. The training and anger management put Harrison in a good place both physically and mentally. When the lights are on and he hits a cold streak or St. John’s goes on a skid, whether or not Harrison has actually learned from his past will reveal itself.

“He’s in a really good place but he knows it has to be sustained,” says Lavin. “It doesn’t mean he’s not going to have a day or a game where he’s less than perfect, we get that. But he’s in a good place and we’re proud of the way he came back. He wanted to come back and he came back and earned his way back on to the team.”

Harrison must keep composure in order for this team to reach its potential and with the talent around him this season, he has the chance to lead the Big East in scoring and have a really special year for the Red Storm.

In Sampson, Harrison, Jordan, Pointer and Opekba, Lavin has five former blue chip recruits who will often find themselves on the court together at the same time at his disposal. That level of talent cannot be matched by any of the other teams in the new Big East. The accolades for this crew are already piling up—Sampson was named Second-Team All-Conference, Harrison a First-Team selection, Opekba an Honorable Mention, and Jordan has been named Preseason Big East Rookie of the Year. While the Big East lost many of its stalwarts, newcomers Xavier, Creighton and Butler are no strangers to success. Adding those programs to go along with Georgetown, Villanova and Marquette and the Big East will still be one of the more competitive conferences in the country. Outside of matchups with Wisconsin and Syracuse, the Red Storm’s non-conference schedule is very weak which should help them find their groove heading into Big East play.

Expectations are growing, the talent level is as high as its ever been, and entering year four of Lavin’s regime the pressure to win now is undeniable—exactly what Lavin and the Red Storm want. “At the end of the day, that’s why we lace ‘em up,” says Lavin. “As a coach and an athlete that comes to St. John’s, you have the chance to do something special like we have in the past. This group has been working hard so that we’ll have something special in March.”

Networking has become the foundation of the college basketball business. Ask any college basketball coach, and they will tell you how the coaching profession relates to a fraternity. Whether at an AAU event, coaches clinic, or games during the school season, coaches never stop interacting with each other. Support staff members (those on staff who aren’t allowed to recruit) find networking even more important in hopes to establish a relationship that may lead to a bigger job in the future.

Founded in 2010, Rising Coaches Elite is a company that hosts networking opportunities for support staff members throughout the country. The company started as a small idea among a few friends that blossomed into a full-fledged operation. Andy Farrell, Trey Meyer and Adam Gordon all held support staff roles at Clemson and saw an opportunity to help other young coaches in the profession meet each other and expand their professional Rolodex. They believed an event in which younger coaches can learn from the veterans in the business and also meet new people would be beneficial to all parties involved.

“When we started talking to our friends within coaching, we got the same reactions from everyone: It was a no-brainer for us to take it to the next level,” said Andy Farrell, now the current Director of Basketball Operations at DePaul. “This profession is all about relationships, so we thought we could make a huge impact on the hundreds of aspiring coaches that we’ve never met.”

Rising Coaches Elite hosts its annual Rising Coaches Conference every July in Las Vegas right before the live recruiting period starts. This year, the three day conference runs from July 24-26 at the HardRock Hotel. The conference will host a bevvy of head coaches from major college programs as the guest speakers. Coaches such as Steve Lavin (St. Johns), Buzz Williams (Marquette), Josh Pastner (Memphis), Anthony Grant (Alabama), Kevin O’Neill (USC) and others have all made speaking appearances at past events. The coaches touch on subjects that will help the young coaches as they make their way up the basketball food chain.

“I think the most important thing Rising Coaches does is that we give them an organization where the young guys get the opportunity to learn directly from Assistant Coaches & Head Coaches,” Farrell said. “The young coaches learn what it takes to get to that level and what current head coaches expect from people in our current positions.”

Farrell said the goal of Rising Coaches is to have every support staff member to be a part of the conference. Every young coach should take the opportunity to better themselves professionally while learning from the best in their business. Farrell thinks the attendance numbers this year will greatly surpass those of the past two years and hopes the numbers don’t stop rising.

“Ideally, we would like Rising Coaches as a platform to develop the next generation of college coaches. We think that every young coach would benefit from a networking conference in which they can learn form the current rock stars in our profession.”

After a freshman season in which he averaged 15.5 points and 8.6 rebounds, and was awarded Big East Rookie of the Year, St. John’s forward Moe Harkless today announced he will declare for early entry to the NBA Draft. ESPN has the details, via the Associated Press: “Moe Harkless said one of the benefits of deciding to leave St. John’s after his freshman season and declare for early entry to the NBA draft was he wouldn’t have to answer any more questions. ‘I was hearing people yelling at me to stay,’ he said Monday at his news conference at Madison Square Garden when he was interrupted. ‘One Moe year. One Moe year. You heard me? That was me hiding behind the bush on campus yelling that,’ Red Storm coach Steve Lavin said, finally getting a stoic Harkless to break into a smile. ‘I even tried on the way over here to convince him to change his mind. He didn’t go for it.’ Harkless, the lynchpin of Lavin’s first recruiting class at St. John’s, announced his decision after a first and only season with the Red Storm (13-19) that saw him win Big East Rookie of the Year by averaging 15.5 points and 8.6 rebounds, which put him sixth and second, respectively, among freshmen nationally. ‘At the end of the season I had talks with my mom and Coach Lavin,’ the 6-foot-8 Harkless said of the time frame in making the decision. ‘I came to the conclusion over the past couple of days.’ Lavin said there were plenty of talks about the decision that included ‘healthy discussions and some tough banter.’ All the talk left Lavin sure of some things. ‘He has the confidence, the conviction and purpose in making this choice,’ Lavin said. Lavin underwent prostate cancer surgery in October and was on the bench for only four games before doctors told him to follow a modified schedule that kept him away from games. ‘I came to St. John’s to play for Coach Lavin,’ he said. ‘Unfortunately the situation didn’t allow me to play as much as I wanted to for him. We still have a good relationship and he supports me in this decision.'”

The ship might have sailed on this, but it’s worth noting that over 80 college coaches from 30 different conferences donned blue bow ties in support of On the Line’s national “Statement Week.” St. John’s Coach Steve Lavin, who underwent successful surgery to treat prostate cancer in October, wore his blue bow tie at last Saturday’s game against Notre Dame: “‘This weekend both St. John’s and Notre Dame coaching staffs will wear stylish blue bow ties for On The Line’s prostate cancer awareness week,’ said St. John’s head coach Steve Lavin. ‘My father Cappy Lavin is now a 21 year prostate cancer survivor. And as a result of my successful prostate cancer surgery on Oct 6, 2011, I’m now cancer free. It is critical that men have annual checkups to find out their PSA score. Early detection can save lives.'”

St. John’s men’s basketball coach Steve Lavin revealed today that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Lavin was aware of his condition last fall, detecting the cancer in its early stages. From ESPN: “‘My family feels fortunate that through annual health exams, we detected my condition at an early stage,’ the 46-year-old Lavin said in a statement released by the school. ‘This past fall I didn’t want to distract our team, but with the season behind us, we are now working with medical experts and taking the proper steps to tackle this health challenge head on.’ The former UCLA coach was hired by St. John’s in April 2010 after seven years as a college basketball analyst for ESPN. ‘We are pleased that through early detection we determined Coach Lavin’s condition as a relatively low-grade cancer, and one that could wait for treatment until the conclusion of the basketball season,’ said Jonathan Schiff, a board-certified urologist in private practice in New York City. ‘We have spoken to Steve and his family about his options, and will proceed with a course of treatment shortly. ‘I expect a complete cure of Coach Lavin’s condition and we anticipate a seamless continuation of his coaching duties.’ Lavin received support Friday from two Big East coaches who had prostate cancer — Jim Calhoun of Connecticut and Jim Boeheim of Syracuse — and went on win NCAA championships.”

St. John’s and Rutgers fought down to the final play today in the second round of the Big East Tournament, but the game did not end without controversy at Madison Square Garden.

Rutgers inbounded the basketball underneath their own hoop, threw the ball towards St. John’s three-point line, where St. Johns player Justin Brownlee came up with the ball with around 4.0 seconds on the clock. Upon seeing Coach Steve Lavin walk up the sideline, the forward ran out of bounds with the ball near the scorers table, stepped out of bounds at the 1.6 second mark, and chucked the ball into the stands.

The referees did not review the play and went straight into the locker room immediately following the play.

If the play was reviewed, there is little doubt that Brownlee would have received a technical foul–meaning Rutgers would have had two shots and the ball with 1.6 seconds left. No matter what, they would have had a chance at tying or taking the game into overtime.

These events will probably overshadow an entertaining back-and-forth affair, but it brings a broader question into play: Should these refs be allowed to ref the rest of the Big East Conference Tournament or not?

ESPN analyst Doug Gottlieb already said that he believese these referees should be suspended. What do you think?

If we know one thing about St. John’s so far this season, it is that they might be the most confusing team in all of college basketball. Just eight days after a non-competitive 15-point loss at Notre Dame, the Johnnies returned the favor at home with a 72-54 win over the Irish.

The difference this time around was defense and bench production. The Red Storm held Notre Dame to just 19 first half points. Meanwhile, its bench outscored the Fighting Irish 24-to-7, led by 14 points from Malik Boothe.

In the middle of a trecherous stretch of playing against eight straight ranked teams (although Cincinnati is likely to drop from the rankings), St. John’s is now off to a respectable 2-2 start.

From The New York Post:

This was the fourth of eight straight games against ranked teams for the Red Storm. They started the run with a win over Georgetown, then lost to Notre Dame and Syracuse.

“Look at anybody’s next six games in this league,” Mike Brey said, referring to the Big East having half of the top 10 and eight overall in the poll. “It is by far the best league in the country. Everybody watches it because it’s drama and it’s playing out again.”

This is the first time St. John’s has beaten two ranked teams in a season since 2005-06, when they defeated Louisville and Pittsburgh.

Even with such a daunting schedule, the Red Storm sit fifth in the Big East with a 4-2 conference record. That’s ahead of teams like UConn, West Virginia, Notre Dame and Georgetown. The Johnnies might not be back to a title contender, but it’s becoming apparent that Steve Lavin has them back to relevancy.

It feels like the 1990’s at Madison Square Garden again! The Knicks have the place rocking with their hot start and now the Red Storm have followed their lead and conjured up memories of Ron Artest, Felipe Lopez, Lavor Postell and Bootsy Thornton.

With a stacked recruiting class, next year was supposed to be the year that St. John’s jumped back on the national scene, but the win over Georgetown may have pushed that date up.

From The Daily News:

St. John’s (10-3, 3-0) is alone in first place in the Big East. The Storm had lost its last 14 games against Top 25 teams, last beating one (Notre Dame) exactly two years to the day.

“This is why we came here,” said Hardy, whose team-high 20 points gave him six 20-point efforts in his last seven games. “This is what we live for: to play basketball in the best arena in the world and to get wins.” Brownlee added 15 points, seven rebounds and six assists in playing 40 minutes. Lavin said the game-winning bucket was an example of his skill and instincts that allow him to “make the court look smaller.”

With two games against Notre Dame and one against Syracuse next up, the Red Storm will have plenty of more chances to prove their legitimacy. Right now give the credit to two coaches. The first is obviously Steve Lavin, who has done a great job of changing the culture. The second? Rick Pitino, of course. He did pick the Red Storm to win the Big East.

Steve Lavin knew it would be a long road back to relevance for St. John’s, but with five straight wins and a title in the Great Alaska Shootout, it seemed like the Red Storm was on the fast track.

A loss at home to St. Bonaventure on Tuesday night has given Lavin’s team a reason to temper the early season excitement. The Bonnies, who were picked 13th out of 14 teams in the Atlantic 10, knocked off St John’s 67-66 on a game-winning jump shot by Andrew Nicholson with 5.2 seconds remaining.

With the loss, St. John’s fall to 5-2 on the season, and although Lavin tries to find the positives from the defeat, the game shows that St. John’s just might not be ready to compete for a NCAA tournament bid this season.

From The New York Daily News:

It’s hard to see this as anything but a bad loss for St. John’s (5-2), which had its five-game winning streak snapped. St. Bonaventure (5-2) was picked 13th of 14 teams in the Atlantic 10’s preseason coaches poll and was a double-digit underdog. St. John’s held an early lead of 13-2 and was up 47-37 with less than 13 minutes to play, but still ended up in a nail-biter.

The Red Storm hurt itself by shooting only 42% from the floor and a dismal 10-for-20 on the free-throw line.

“The things we struggled with are all correctable,” Lavin said. “I told them that they are still the same group that came back from down 12 (against) Arizona State (in the Great Alaska Shootout final) and pulled out other big wins.”

Things will not get any easier for St. John’s. A potential matchup with Northwestern looms in the Holiday Festival, followed shortly after by the Big East season. Lavin knows how important having a good team in New York City is for the Big East, but that might still be at least a year away for this Red Storm squad.

The day tipped at midnight in Memphis where the nation was introduced to a revamped No. 19 Tigers roster led by head coach John Pastner. After dismissing one of their top freshmen from the team over the weekend, Memphis looked to get past Miami (Fl.) at the FedEx Forum.

Some of the University of Memphis players and coaching staff probably didn’t get to bed this morning until after 3:30 a.m.

But there isn’t much time to recuperate for a Memphis team that will play its second game in less than 48 hours Wednesday night against Northwestern State at FedExForum.

“That’s a trap game (Wednesday) because you’re coming off a Miami game that win or lose is gonna be a battle,” said University of Memphis coach Josh Pastner, whose Tigers played the Hurricanes into the wee hours this morning as part of ESPN’s third annual College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon. “You’ve still got class (today) and then you’re gonna have one day to prepare, and it’s probably going to be pretty much a walk-through.

Other late night games included at 2 a.m. tip-off to the Steve Lavin era for St. John’s against St. Mary’s that went against the new Red Storm coach. While Memphis gets to stay at home for its Wednesday game, St. John’s must fly back across country to play Columbia on Wednesday night.

Although there is a novelty to starting off the season with these late night games, the scheduling might negatively affect Memphis and St. John’s. Remember, no game is forgotten on Selection Sunday.